COVID-19 is the climax to this 4T

[Blazkovitz]

(04-13-2020, 10:38 AM)Isoko Wrote: You have some good points but I tend to believe in the concept of continued rises and falls. Is a world state possible? Very much so. But then look at the Roman Empire or even the Catholic Church. People have new ideas, the same old becomes rotten to the core and eventually you have division and new forms of conflict.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall, as the saying goes. Imagine how the Roman Empire was. A completely civilised society. Eventually it collapsed leading to a new dark age where people went back to living in a tribal society. It took them 1,000 years to get back to the concept of what was Rome. And even then, it took them another 900 years to get sanitation right again, which only started to take shape in the 19th century.

My point is this is the overall Humanity's destiny for along time to come. Also before anyone contradicts this, remember that only in the 1990s were they proclaiming the birth of a new liberal world order of peace and prosperity, technological advancement and peace for all.

We are sat here in 2020 and discussing the possibility of economic depression and nationalist revivals. Who would have predicted that in 1991?

The nationalist revival took place in 2015/16. I think the nationalist-populist movement became so popular because it's a new working class movement, long after the Left abandoned the workers and started standing for gays, feminists, Muslims and radical environmentalists. But if the nationalist-populists don't dwindle, if Trump gets reelected, then the nationalist-populists are the new establishment. Then there will be someone like Bernie or Corbyn to make the working class lean Left again. And eventually there will be no working class because we will go post-scarcity.

Could a World State fall? Of course, nothing lasts for ever. But if it manages to last for (say) 10 000 years, for me it's a very good perspective. Not to mention that after colonising a few dozens of planets, a civilization should become virtually indestructible. So even if Earth is gone, there will be Mankind or its descendants (in the Orion's Arm scenario they are called the Terragens).

Quote:To me that sounds like slavery. If we can condition people to rid themselves of bad traits, why not use this technology to enslave people? And what is right and wrong? How can we say this is for the greater good and the other is evil?

What is more cruel? To apply this technology, or to do nothing and allow the psychopathic child to become a murderer?

Quote:Remember all of those Nazi doctors? They actually believed that by doing all of those experiments, they were acting for the greater good of the people. That their work would build a better future.

Or the Soviets with their destruction of the Kulaks.

The Nazis and Bolsheviks were non-democracies, they used their technologies according to the leaders' whims. In a democracy, there will be long debates before we decide which genetic traits are dangerous and should be eradicated. In many cases, there will be a consensus. Noone really thinks psychopathy and sadism, or propensity to murder and rape, are something we should preserve.

Perhaps government coercion won't be necessary at all. Imagine a criminal can choose between receiving a gene therapy for his behavioural problem or a more traditional punishment like imprisonment. I bet many will choose the therapy.

Quote:Or the British and their destruction of traditional cultural heritage. All in the name of the greater good.

I don't pity traditional cultural heritage based on tribal warfare, forced marriages, witchcraft and vengefulness. Countries such as Jamaica, India and New Guinea retained English as the official language and joined the Commonwealth. And they are now all democracies. Queen Victoria has done a great job!

Quote:The thing is, technology has started to stagnate once again. The last greatest invention has been the internet. I think for this century, technological advancement will start to decline as all the low hanging fruit has been picked. Exactly the same as what happened in 1914.

Unfortunately this is quite likely. It seems we are progressing as far as practical application of principles discovered in the 19th and early 20th century can take us.  

Quote:It all depends on if present day lifestyles around the globe can be continued and how big the technological push is going to be. But eventually there will be a big war and that is just inevitable. Of course out of the ashes comes renewed determination and maybe we will get to the cosmos. Until that leads to war.

Wars are almost always caused by dictators, so the more countries become democratic, the less likelihood of a major war. But I am afraid of a nuclear war between the US and China, perhaps during the next 4T. The only upside is that such a war would result in determination to unite the world.

Quote: if you let in millions and millions of low IQ people no matter what race or ethnic group, you are going to get just that, a banana republic filled with mass corruption and mass poverty. The future of America in my eyes resembles something like a mixture of Brazil and South Africa. That is a small elite surrounded in slums of the poor.

Again, average intelligence can be increased using biotechnology. The alleged difference between Whites and Blacks is about 15 IQ points. Will it matter, when there are genetically upgraded people with IQ 200?

I think just like the boomers "helicoptered" their kids to make sure they are the best kids ever, the next Prophets will give their kids gene therapies to make them the best kids ever.